Honorable Mayor and Council Members:

Our selection process for town manager has been underway for at least one and a half years. The substantial time taken has resulted in numerous candidates dropping out from consideration. In fact, it is now over sixty days from the time the Town Manager Selection Committee finalized its list of recommendations to the Council and only four candidates remain out of the five and two alternates submitted. Therefore, I am cognizant of the risks of what I aim to propose but feel compelled to do so anyway.

Initially, I had many questions about my proposal as well. This would be the second time that we would re-open the process for additional candidates to apply so I was concerned about hurting Miami Lakes' image among potential applicants and broader community by appearing to convey we had a sloppy process. Additionally, I was worried about the message it might send to the candidates who have stuck it out with us and to the members of the committee who spent so much time vetting the candidates. Needless to say, I was extremely hesitant about proposing re-opening the process. After much deliberation and consultation with residents and trusted friends, I have decided to move forward with such a proposal.

The town manager is the leader of the executive branch in our system of government. He or she will manage the day to day operations of the city, execute on policies established by the Town Council, and frequently act as the lead negotiator on behalf of the Town among other important responsibilities. It is no understatement to say the selection of a new town manager is, arguably, the most important decision we will make. There may be newly available talent following the recent elections that would not have been discovered during our selection process. Further, the pool of candidates recommended by the Town Manager Selection Committee has significantly dwindled and the newly elected council members will need time to conduct their own process to evaluate the remaining candidates regardless of who is left. These reasons are enough for me to be comfortable re-opening the search and vetting process on an expedited basis as outlined below.

I believe the following proposal will satisfy the interests of all parties involved in a manner that is fair, timely, and effective:

• Hire recruiter to conduct search for new candidates within 5 days of approving the proposed resolution.

• Close search process within 30 days of the 5 day recruiter hiring period during which the recruiter will locate 3 candidates.

• Complete background checks as recruiter locates candidates with the last background search to be completed within 10 days of the close of the search period.

• The Town Manager Selection Committee must meet within 15 days of the close of the search period to review the recruiter's findings and determine if they would like to add any of the new candidates to their recommended list.

• The Council must select a new candidate for Town Manager on February 5, 2018 the date of its February meeting which is 13 days after the deadline for committee to make any recommendations.

I fully appreciate the gravity of what is being proposed and I understand that there are those who will strongly disagree with my proposal. But I feel that the new Council should have the opportunity to conduct one final search to ensure no stone has been left un-turned in filling one of the most important positions in our government and I suspect that even if the search were not re-opened we would likely not be prepared to make a final decision until mid-January at the earliest anyway.

Fiscal Impact: $15,000-$25,000